Patna: Nitish Kumar cabinet on Tuesday relaxed the norm for mandatory toilets at the homes for candidates contesting the coming elections to panchayat and urban local bodies.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet presided over by Kumar, principal secretary Cabinet Coordination Department Brajesh Mahrotra told reporters.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Reuters

The Bihar State Panchayati Raj Act, 2006 had made it compulsory for a candidate in the local bodies poll to have a toilet at home as an eligibility criteria.

The election to local bodies in Bihar is scheduled for next month.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who had made a request to the state government for waiver of the clause, expressed happiness over the cabinet decision.

Sushil Modi told reporters that the fault lies with the state government for not building toilets for about 1.5 crore households in the state. The mandatory clause of the toilet would have stopped many genuine candidates from fighting the poll.